Pages

Saturday, 1 March 2014

Human Rights Record of the United States in 2013

Video:

China published a report on the United States' human rights record on Friday, in response to U.S. criticism and "irresponsible remarks" about China.

"The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2013" was released
by the Information Office of the State Council, China's cabinet, in
response to "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013" made
public by the U.S. State Department on Thursday.

Press TV
China's report states that there were serious human rights problems
in the U.S in 2013, with the situation deteriorating in many fields.
Once again posing as "the world judge of human rights", the U.S.
government "made arbitrary attacks and irresponsible remarks" on almost
200 countries and regions, the report says.

The United States carefully concealed and avoided mentioning its own human rights problems, according to the report.

THE WORLD THROUGH PRISM

The U.S. government spies on its own citizens to a "massive and unrestrained" degree, the report says.

The report calls the U.S. PRISM surveillance program, a vast,
long-term mechanism for spying on private citizens both at home and
abroad, "a blatant violation of international law" and says it
"seriously infringes human rights."

The U.S. intelligence services, by virtue of data provided by Internet and telecom companies -- including Microsoft, Google, Apple, Facebook, and Yahoo -- "recklessly" track citizens' private contacts and social activities.

KILLER ROBOTS AND DEAD CONVENTIONS

The report quantifies drone strikes by the U.S. in countries, including Pakistan and Yemen,
which have caused heavy civilian casualties. In Pakistan alone, since
2004, the U.S. has carried out 376 drone strikes killing 926 civilians.

The U.S. has not ratified, or participated in, a series of core UN
conventions on human rights, such as the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities.

CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT

Solitary confinement is prevalent in the U.S., the report says.

In U.S. prisons, inmates in solitary confinement are enclosed in
cramped cells with poor ventilation and little or no natural light,
isolated from other prisoners; a situation that takes it toll on
inmates' physical and mental health.

About 80,000 U.S. prisoners are in solitary confinement. Some have been held in solitary confinement for over 40 years.

RAMPANT GUN VIOLENCE

The rampant U.S. gun culture breeds violence that results in the death of 11,000 Americans every year.

The report cites figures from the FBI that state firearms were used
in 69.3 percent of the nation's murders, 41 percent of robberies, and
21.8 percent of aggravated assaults.

In 2013, 137 people were killed in 30 mass murder events (four or more deaths each).

A rampage in the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington D.C. left 12 people dead, according to the report.

UNEMPLOYMENT AND HOMELESSNESS

"The U.S. still faces a grave employment situation with its unemployment rate still high," the report says.

Unemployment for low-income families has topped 21 percent. The
homeless population in the U.S. has climbed 16 percent from 2011 to
2013.

There are also many child laborers in the agricultural sector in the
U.S. and their physical and mental health is seriously compromised, the
report says.

Friday's report was the 15th such annual report published by China in response to U.S. attacks.

BEIJING, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese idiom says that all will
follow one who is personally upright, even though he does not give
orders; but if he is not personally upright, they will not follow, even
though he gives orders.

Attributed to Confucius (551 BC-479 BC), one of the greatest Chinese
philosophers in history, the idiom is an important tenet for the
Chinese. Full story